


After The 400 Days

by cucumberandlime



Category: 400 Days (Film)
Genre: Angst, Child Death, Depression, Eventual Happy Ending, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, I do hate Dvorak tho, I meaN i do but i dont yknow, M/M, Panic Attacks, Post-Canon Fix-It, Self Harm, Suicidal Thoughts, Theo Cooper has Nightmares, i guess, just in case, later mentioned child death, this fic makes it look like I hate Emily but I don't
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-10-10 19:42:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20533538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cucumberandlime/pseuds/cucumberandlime
Summary: I know nobody is going to read this,but I hope anyone who does likes it! This movie means a lot to me and I thought the characters would have a lot of potential outside of the film. :pensive:I don't remember all the details of the movie,so if I leave anything out/miss some details,please be nice to me ;w; also I didn't proofread this,so pls point out any spelling errors and I'll try to fix them.<3





	After The 400 Days

**Author's Note:**

> I know nobody is going to read this,but I hope anyone who does likes it! This movie means a lot to me and I thought the characters would have a lot of potential outside of the film. :pensive:
> 
> I don't remember all the details of the movie,so if I leave anything out/miss some details,please be nice to me ;w; also I didn't proofread this,so pls point out any spelling errors and I'll try to fix them. 
> 
> <3

In the end,it really was fake. All of it was a simulation,Dvorak and Bug weren’t dead. And maybe he didn’t have the right to be angry,because he was never lied to,not going by the definition of lying. They just- withheld information. And a lot of it,enough to make this illusion seem a reality. Including Emily. When the hatch had opened,and the crew had come pouring in to congratulate them on ‘surviving’,on making it to the end,Theo nearly gave out,and it was obvious. They most of known this would happen,considering the ambulances outside,the shock blankets they wrapped around them. He couldn’t form any sentences,reply to any of the praises- he couldn’t even feel relieved. There was something eating away at his insides,a familiar,acidic feeling that made his head spin. A cocktail of anger and dread,leaving him shaking and flushed. How could they do this? Even for an experiment? Where in the papers did it say anything about consenting to psychological manipulation? Well,everywhere. Just worded differently. After all,that’s what all this was about,right? Seeing just how far they could push them?

The reality of it only started to sink in once he was placed in the back of an ambulance,looking around at his companions,taking in their reactions. Bug was placed in the ambulance across from him,blank faced- and seemingly injured. Maybe when those people had got a hold of him,the ones who supposedly killed him,he struggled hard enough to hurt himself? The burning inside him worsened at the thought. Dvorak was next to him,spaced out,but clearly angry. He hoped they wouldn’t have to restrain him,though he wouldn’t blame him for punching one of the people right in the face. He knew he wanted to. 

Emily was with the rest of the crowd,speaking to scientists,psychologists,or that’s at least what Theo figured they were. She didn’t seem bothered. Tired,maybe,but not in shock. She knew. Even if not all of it,she knew to some extent that this was all part of the game. She was in charge of- basically everything,so it made sense. She had to know more than them. But it didn’t stop him from feeling betrayed. Just another reason to be angry. Just another thing to put him into shock.

And that was the last time he had seen her. It had been months,months of unanswered calls,months of ignored emails,months of avoiding the neighborhood they used to share a home in. Theo knew it was for the best. There was no way to make sense of what she did,even if she had good intentions,and so he wanted nothing to do with her,for both of their sakes. It was time all this fighting was over. So it was. A lot less closure than he would’ve wanted,but hey,that’s life,isn’t it? There’s no real closure to anything,and especially not for him.

He got a job,albeit shitty,working in a factory a few cities over,where he soon moved into a small house. Just big enough for him,almost the size of a large apartment,with two bedrooms,a living room,and a small dining room that led right into the even smaller kitchen. He didn’t have many nice things,but he had food on the table,a place to sleep- he was even able to invest in one of those nice telescopes online,which he placed on the flat part of his roof,right above the sky lights in the attic. It was home,after everything,it was home. But he always felt like something was missing without Emily. The few friends and family he had lived out of state,so they rarely came around. The price of moving away was a heavy one,and even heavier now,after those 400 days. He was lonely,in simplest terms,and traumatized as hell. The nightmares were not very bearable these days,and therapy wasn’t an option. Why? Oh,only because Theo refused to look for a therapist. He had the insurance to cover it,and he was sure there were offices nearby,but he just wouldn’t. At that point,he himself wasn’t even sure why. But that’s just how it was,and was sure to stay. 

Maybe if he had gone to a therapist,he would’ve thought it through a bit more before picking up the phone. But Theo is,and always has been,somewhat impulsive. Once he gets an idea in his head,he jumps right on it,for better or worse. But thankfully,she didn’t pick up. He still had Emily’s phone number saved in his phone,and on a particularly lonely,excruciating night,he had the bright idea to call and apologize to her. There was no answer,it went straight to voice-mail,and he had enough sense not to leave a message. Maybe she’d ignore it. He hoped she would. After all,this was better for both of them- the silence. He just wasn’t thinking straight. Yeah. He was having a hard time holding in his panic,as usual,but he managed enough by piling blankets on top of his shaking form. Maybe he should call someone else? He didn’t want to call up any family members while he was like this,and he hadn’t spoken to any of his friends for years now,so those options were out the window. 

But there was one person that might want to speak to him,actually,the one person who he’d recently gotten to know who didn’t hate his guts,or vice versa. But the thought of talking to someone surrounding that situation made his stomach churn. “Shit..” He grumbled to himself,drumming the small flip phone against his palm. His hesitance was due to years of being rejected,in one way or another,but he knew this was different. What reason would Bug have to be angry with him? They had nothing against each other. In fact,he got along with Bug better than anyone else on the mission. He was quiet most days,but they did have a few late night talks. Maybe they could have more,considering they were pretty much the only people they had to talk to about the whole situation. He knew Bug didn’t like Dvorak,not after how he had treated him- and he’d never been particularly close to Emily. And Theo probably wasn’t the only one who had his thoughts about her lying to them. 

It didn’t make the idea any easier. Talking to someone involved would make it feel real,which could be good and bad. Sometimes he was convinced it was all something he had made up in an attempt to cope with his life. But he didn’t want to go through the memories again,didn’t want those feelings to come rushing back. He supposed things had to change eventually,he had to work through this somehow. For better or worse. With a sigh,he looked through his contacts,finding all of his crew mates numbers. Not that they needed them whilst they were on the mission,but they had exchanged them in case of emergency,and because,well- they figured they’d all be friends afterwards. He brought the phone to his ear as it rang,anxiety bubbling up into his throat. He couldn’t help but drum his fingers on his lap,trying to get some of that energy out of him. It kept ringing. And ringing. The sound was almost physically painful. Until it went to voice-mail.  
He figured. But,it wouldn’t hurt to leave a message for him,right? He might as well. “Oh- voice-mail,uhm,” Theo chuckled nervously,trying to think of a proper way to say this quick enough that he could fit it into the time limit. “Hey Bug,it’s uh.. Theo. You know from..” He didn’t bother to finish that sentence,biting his lower lip with a shake of his head. “But,anyway. I was wondering if you’d wanna meet up soon,since it’s been a while. I know this is a little sudden I just.. Kinda missing you out here dude. Things have been too quiet.” Theo cleared his throat,eyes falling to his lap. He hoped this wasn’t weird,calling him up like this. Was it? He didn’t know. They were friends,so there shouldn’t be a problem. Probably. “So yeah,uh.. Give me a call back whenever you get the chance. I hope things have been going better for you.”

And with that he hung up,phone tossed onto his bedside table. He could’ve sat there and thought about everything that could go wrong,about everything he could’ve worded differently,but he was much too exhausted. It didn’t matter anyway. Nothing did,not as long as he was like this- a shell of himself. It was better to take the risk than sit here,alone and depressed. He just hoped he’d get back to him. Soon. Theo sank down into his bed with a sigh,slipping his arm over his eyes,the only sound in the house being the echoing tick of the clock in the living room and him shifting in the blankets. His entire body felt heavy,and now that he was calming down from whatever that moment was,he could feel himself drifting off.

Theo’s last thought before drifting off,was the hope that things would get better soon,even if just a little bit. Just a little bit. He deserved that much after what he’d been through. And things did in fact,get better. Just in ways he never expected.


End file.
